Raphael Varane announces himself with a classic clasico debut

The 19 year old announced himself in the Clasico with an outstanding
display to help Real Madrid come from behind and keep their Copa Del
Rey hopes alive...

It was one of those rare clasico's when the limelight was not on Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi
after the 90 minutes. Over the years the El-Clasico has been dominated
by arguably the two greatest players in the world but for once someone
else stood up to take centre-stage.

Wounded
by injuries and suspensions, Jose Mourinho's side had the herculean
task of stopping the Catalan giants who despite resting a few players
from last week's 5-1 win over Osasuna were still strong enough to
challenge their fierce rivals. Madrid on the other hand started with
Ricardo Carvalho and Raphael Varane in place of Sergio Ramos and Pepe
whereas Jose Callejon, Micheal Essien were also included in the staring
XI.

It was a game of high quality, numerous chances and sublime
football from both sides. With the likes of Mesut Ozil, Lionel Messi,
Cristiano Ronaldo, Xavi, Iniesta all on the field it was always going to
be a tough task to pick out the game changer amongst them but
surprisingly it was the El-Clasico debutant Raphael Varane who came up
with an outstanding display to help Los Blancos come from behind to
level the tie.

The 19 year old capped a colossal display in the
heart of the defense with a second half header cancelling out Cesc
Fabregas's opener and setting up a mouth-watering second leg at the Nou
Camp. It was a perfect occasion for the French defender to take
advantage of the absence of Madrid's first choice center-back pairing
and he did not disappoint. His positional sense, concentration and
confidence on the ball throughout the 90 minutes was outstanding and was
well appreciated by everyone.

"Varane had a magnificent game, it's very hard to look
that good at that age for this club. It was a pleasure to play in a
match like that, it was a great spectacle." - Gerard Pique

In an era when defenders have often been criticised for giving away
cheap goals and not being able to match the standards set by their
legendary predecessors, Varane reminded us that the art of defending is
not completely lost.

Fabregas got the all important away goal

The Frenchman denied Xavi early on when Carvalho was caught out of
position by clearing the ball off the goal-line to keep the score at
0-0. He then went onto put in the tackle of the game that denied Cesc
Fabregas his second of the night who was clean through on goal. Varane
for most part of the game dominated Lionel Messi who was surprisingly
quiet throughout the 90 minutes. Raphael Varane's debut display was
arguably one of the greatest Clasico debut's and with Sergio Ramos and
Pepe back in the team soon surely Mourinho will have a tough time
selecting his defenders.

Although both the teams will rue their
missed chances, the defensive work both sides did was impressive. Both
sets of defenders have been often criticized but it was the two opposing
center-backs, Varane and Gerard Pique who were arguably the best
players on the pitch. Pique's last-ditch tackle to deny Cristiano
Ronaldo who just needed a tap-in was outstanding and even though both
sides had their moments to win the game with Xavi's free-kick and
Ronaldo's header early in the second half, it was the defenders who
earned the plaudits this time around.

It was a mesmerising game
played at high tempo between two of European football's most decorated
teams and although Madrid will have a huge task at the Nou Camp, if they
can come up with a performance like this again we can be sure of
another breath-taking game of football soon.